Complex cloud layers

October 27th was very warm, with a high of 79 degrees and 77 percent humidity  This was in advance of a cold front that has dropped the temperature overnight to the current 45 degrees.


Due to the cold front, a complex collection of clouds covered the evening sky. Cloud types in this sky are cirrostratus, cumulonimbus and cirrus which are all typical of a cold front.


This drawing was begun at about 6 pm with blue-gray, rose and crisp yellow-white clouds in  the eastern sky. All that color and I decided to draw in graphite! I was intrigued by all the shapes and tones of the clouds so I found a nice sharp 4B pencil and got started.


Pencils are graded by their hardness. The harder the graphite the lighter the line drawn with it. Here's a link to the HB scale to see where 4B (soft) fits into the scheme. The old number 2 pencil from school days is usually an HB pencil which is in the middle of the scale.

Rain-full cloud

This cloud portrait is a cloud full of rain, a cumulonimbus cloud. The likeness was taken at about 4:30 pm facing north against a dense sky full of clouds, some very white. The change in the weather arrived overnight on Wednesday, September 21st and the result is rainy, damp and humid.


The dark and bright white cumulonimbus clouds were so stark but beautiful. It was difficult to select which lovely cloud to paint but I liked this one having a whiter cloud behind and below it. They look very soft, don't they?